SpaceX Starlink has 2,500 planes under contract

PARIS — SpaceX has nearly doubled its backlog of Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi orders with last week’s orders United Airlines deal, the company’s director said on Tuesday.

“Very excited to have approximately 2,500 aircraft under contract now, bringing what was essentially a startup now, what we believe is a growing experience that will resonate with all passengers and airlines worldwide,” Nick Galano, director of SpaceX of Starlink aviation. sales and partnerships, he said during a panel at the World Space Business Week conference in Paris.

The satellite Internet arm of Elon Musk’s space company is pushing into the in-flight connectivity, or IFC, market. Last week, United said it would equip its more than 1,000 planes with Starlink and not charge customers for Wi-Fi.

United’s big deal was Starlink’s biggest IFC deal to date. It will also push back United’s existing quartet of WiFi providers — ViasatPanasonic, Thales and I giggle — as Starlink will be installed on the airline’s planes in the coming years.

SpaceX has previously announced in-flight offerings and has launched its services Hawaiian AirlinesQatar Airways, Japan’s Zipair, Latvia’s airBaltic and semi-private charter airline JSX.

SpaceX has been steadily expanding its Starlink network and product offerings since its debut in 2020. The company initially targeted consumers but has expanded into other markets, including business services such as aviation and shipping.

There are currently about 6,400 Starlink satellites in orbit connecting more than 3 million customers in 100 countries, according to the company.

Galano argued for “the sheer factor of the capacity that we can deliver” through Starlink, saying that today’s satellite constellation is “probably over 100 times what all the legacy systems have delivered” due to “more than 300 terabits per second of capacity today”.

SpaceX continues to increase that capacity as well, launching rockets carrying new Starlink satellites about every three days on average this year, according to the company.

Galano also emphasized that SpaceX is trying to reduce the time it takes to install new antennas on aircraft. Known as retrofitting, the process is a pain point for airlines that require aircraft to be grounded for days at a time in order to upgrade or replace a satellite communications system.

“We’re trying to simplify these installations — innovation is a word we use — to get them done in less than a day, which we’ve proven in the Hawaiian and JSX fleets,” Galano said.

In comparison, Delta Air Lines said the IFC satellite upgrade takes “on average about three days,” according to Glenn Latta, the airline’s managing director of inflight entertainment and connectivity. However, Latta said Delta’s process, which requires retrofitting 1,200 aircraft, is also more labor-intensive compared to installing Starlink on Hawaiian’s fleet, which was 66 aircraft in mid-2024, according to securities deposit.

“A retrofit for us is to remove the system that’s there … and then you can do your installation,” Latta told CNBC after the conference panel. “[Hawaiian] I’ve never had a satcom system, so that’s one of the differences to consider.”

Delta, which relies on Viasat for in-flight service, said in early 2023 it would make its Wi-Fi free to members of its frequent flyer program — a decision Latta says has proven worthwhile for the airline. company. Both Delta and United are in a battle for high-end customers.

“We have acquired 3 million additional SkyMiles members as part of our loyalty program, offering free Internet access,” said Latta.

— CNBC’s Leslie Josephs contributed to this article.